Gavi carried Andalusia's flag on his back, not Palestine's
A video posted on the social media platform Facebook claims that a Palestinian flag was raised in front of Trump. The video shows Gavi, a player from the FIFA World Cup winning team Spain, receiving a medal with a flag draped over his back after the final match. Dismislab’s fact-check found that the flag is not Palestine’s — it is the flag of Andalusia, an autonomous region of Spain where the player was born.
A video posted on Facebook carries the caption, “This means a lot for Muslims — the Palestinian flag in front of Trump.” The video shows US President Donald Trump placing a medal around the neck of Pablo Martín Páez Gavira, known as Gavi. Toward the end of the video, another player is seen coming up onto the stage. When the camera angle changes, the player with the flag is visible again. On the flag draped over his back, green and white colors can be seen, along with a yellow emblem in the middle of the white section.
The video has been found posted by multiple users making the same claim (1, 2, 3).
A reverse image search led Dismislab to find multiple photos and videos of the scene showing the medal ceremony after the World Cup final ended. A keyword search led to a YouTube video from Fox 5 Washington DC. At the 1 minute 19 second mark of the video, US President Donald Trump can be seen placing a medal around the neck of Gavi, who is wearing jersey number 9. At this moment, a green and white flag is visible on Gavi’s back, with a yellow emblem in the middle of the white band. The flag has no red marking of any kind.
Palestine’s flag has four colors. From top to bottom, in order, are black, white, and green, with a red triangle on the left. Palestine’s flag has no emblem in the middle of its white band.
A keyword search led to a Reddit post in which a user, sharing an image of the flag on Gavi’s back, asked what flag it was. In the comments, multiple users identified it as the “Andalusian flag.”
Following this cue, Dismislab found an image of the flag of Andalusia, an autonomous community of Spain. The flag of Andalusia has three horizontal bands, in order from top to bottom: green, white, and green. In the middle of the white band is Andalusia’s official emblem, in yellow. Andalusia is an autonomous community located in southern Spain. The flag seen on Gavi’s back is essentially the flag of Andalusia, not Palestine’s.
Notably, on July 19, 2026, Spain defeated Argentina in the football World Cup final. Spain’s World Cup-winning squad included three players from the Andalusia region — Fabián Ruiz, Gavi, and Álex Baena.
